Wandering Fork

As I prepared for my trip to the North Slope of Alaska, I reviewed my wardrobe wondering what I owned that may be appropriate for the Artic Circle in April.  The list I received was very generic:  warm boots, warm coat, hat covering the ears, and gloves.  As a result, I packed all of the cold-weather apparel I had in layers including long underwear, wooly sweaters, and a new pair of ski pants.

 

For three days and two nights, I was a guest of BP at their Prudhoe Bay Operations Center (PBOC).  Outside, it ranged from 2° F to -10° F, but at least the sun came out and we weren’t subject to “Phase 3,” which is when weather conditions shut down part or all of the oil field operations.  The landscape was flat and white like something out of science fiction, or perhaps Western Kansas in January. I saw some wildlife: a red fox and four ravens, but no bears or caribou. I also saw the beginning of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline which runs from the North Slope to Valdez, AK.  

 

Pipeline

 

PBOC was a large structure which included dormitories, a gym, theater/chapel, cafeteria, laboratory, and offices.  The structure is elevated off of the ground on pylons and painted different colors depending on whether it was part of the original structure or a later addition. Similar to college, I was assigned one of two small bedroom with a bed and desk. The bathroom (toilet, sink, and shower) were part of a small interior hall abutting one end of the rooms.  With the large number of people on the Slope, rooms are a precious commodity and so I was bunking in the room of someone who was on their scheduled days off.  Later that day, I met my “roommate,” Mark.  When I asked one of my hosts how to handle the logistics of the shower (it had a glass door), she explained that it was not normal to be bunked in to that kind of room with a member of the opposite sex and I was subsequently reassigned.  The beds were long, foam singles which are probably similar to something that astronauts sleep on.

 

Building on pylons

 

View from my room

 

Food at the PBOC is quite good and plentiful.  It is set up cafeteria style with a main line for hot foods, salad bar, drinks, and dessert area. Although it has specific hours for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there is also a “Spike Room” which is open 24/7 and includes sandwiches, hotdogs, cereal, fruit, yogurt, donuts, cookies, popcorn, and drinks.  For breakfast I enjoyed French toast, bacon, sausage, a cheese omelet, milk, and orange juice. I missed the syrup, so I topped my French toast with blueberries.  Everything was quite good and the cooks do a nice job insuring everything is fresh and tasty.  

 

Breakfast 

 

Other meals included: a steak that was huge and almost didn’t fit on my plate, with accompanying baked potato and sautéed mushrooms; pizza; peanut butter and jelly sandwich; and, my own comfort food which included a combination of wilted spinach and mashed potatoes.  I can definitely understand why many put on about 20 pounds when first living on the Slope.

 

April 15, 2009 

1 x French Toast with blueberries                                  

2 x Bacon                    

2 x Sausage                                          

1 x Cheese Omelet                                 

1 x Orange Juice                                  

1 x Milk                                                  

Total                                        $ 0.00

 

In: Alaska, Breakfast | tags: Alaska, Artic Circle, Breakfast, French Toast, North Slope, Omelette, Prudhoe Bay. | #